An accelerometer is one of the major sensors used in on-board safety control systems and navigation systems. For example, the accelerometer is used in various antiwheel-lock, active suspension and seat belt lock-up systems of an automobile. Accelerometers are also used to detect engine misfire and engine knock.
More generally, an accelerometer is a device which measures acceleration, and in particular an accelerometer measures the force that is exerted when a moving body changes velocity. The moving body possesses inertia which tends to resist the change in velocity. It is this resistance to a sudden change in velocity that is the origin of the force which is exerted when the moving body is accelerated.
In a typical accelerometer, a mass is suspended by two springs attached to opposite sides of the mass. The mass is maintained in a neutral position so long as the system is at rest or is in motion at a constant velocity. When the system is accelerated, the spring-mounted mass will, on account of its inertia, at first lag behind the movement; one spring will thus be stretched and the second will be compressed. The force acting on each spring is equal in magnitude and is equal to the product of the weight of the mass and the acceleration (the change in velocity) experienced by the mass.
In a more recently developed accelerometer, two vibrating quartz beams each support on one end respective masses. The two beams longitudinally lie on the same axis. The device is sensitive to acceleration along this axis. Acceleration of the device causes opposite perturbations in the resonant frequencies of the beams, because inertial forces on the respective masses compress one beam and stretch the other. The output signal of the device is the frequency difference between the two beams.
Although there are quite a few different kinds of accelerometers available commercially, they share the following problems:
1. An x-direction acceleration signal is often affected by y or z-direction acceleration (and vice versa) or by non-signal motions; PA0 2. A change in temperature may induce stress variation and hence cause inaccurate measurements; and PA0 3. High cost.
Because of these and other problems, present accelerometers are unable to meet the requirements of reliability, accuracy, ruggedness, and low cost demanded by on-board automotive systems, and many other applications.